The right man to take Liverpool forward?

Since the 2008/2009 season we have seen Liverpool only competing for a Europa League spot in the Premier League, something no one ever really felt possible only five or six years ago. They may have finished fifth a couple of times during the big top-four era, but they were always competing for a Champions League spot and have even mounted a title challenge on a couple of occasions.

So bringing in a manager who had just one season’s experience in the Premier League to re-ignite the fortunes of the Anfield club, in my eyes, seemed a strange move from the club’s owners.

Currently sitting 11th in the top-flight after 15 games is not where Liverpool should be, especially having won just four of those opening games and drawing as much as seven of them. It is the position that they are in now that has got me questioning whether Rodgers really is the right man for Liverpool. With the club in decline, why was an inexperienced manager employed to turn things around?

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Although Liverpool have not been playing bad football throughout the early stages of this season, they are failing to show us all why they have the right to continue being top-four contenders. The reason why Rodgers was appointed was because the football his Swansea side played in the Premier League last season. He shows promise as a young manager and his footballing philosophy is one that would excite most clubs, but his lack of management experience at top-flight level should have been enough to rule him out of the vacant manager’s position. What a club of Liverpool’s stature should be looking for in a manager is one of experience and someone who has been there, seen it and done it at football’s highest level.

Firstly, his decision to allow Andy Carroll to leave on a season-long loan to West Ham appears to be a serious lack of judgement. With just one striker in Luis Suarez left at the club who is an experienced Premier League player, Rodgers made a big mistake in not bringing in a replacement for the former Newcastle man before allowing him to leave. It remains to be seen whether a more experienced manager would have allowed that to happen, but my guess is that he wouldn’t have been so hasty in allowing Carroll to go until his replacement had signed on the dotted line.

The decision to allow Dirk Kuyt, Maxi Rodriquez and Craig Bellamy to leave the club are two more reasons to question Rodgers’ thinking in the transfer market, although his argument would be that he was refused funding from the owners for the replacements he had lined up. But that’s where the inexperience comes in to play. Many experienced managers would have waited to see who was definitely coming in before allowing the club’s best assets to leave.

However, the £16million he spent on Joe Allen, who he had at Swansea, is still to be justified, while £11million signing Fabio Borini is currently sidelined with a broken foot. The players he allowed to leave compared to the players he brought in have not exactly evened themselves out and that has been reflected in Liverpool’s below-par start to the season. This, I believe, is a result of him being a little out of his depth at Liverpool. Expectations are a lot higher at Anfield than they are the Liberty Stadium, especially with Liverpool being in transition.

One promising factor under Rodgers is his willingness to give the academy players the opportunity of first team football, a decision that has reaped rewards with the likes of Andre Wisdom and Raheem Sterling emerging as Premier League regulars and consistent performers. But their inexperience will not propel Liverpool into the top four over night and it will take a good two or three years of development for them to thrive at that kind of level.

Liverpool’s season will no doubt end in another top eight finish, but they will ultimately have to wait for the return of Champions League football at Anfield. If Rodgers sticks to his word and brings in an array of exciting talent in January, then we may see the Reds climb back into the top-half of the table, but failure to do so will see them slip further into mid-table mediocrity, especially with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Pepe Reina all coming to the end of their careers.

If that happens, then Rodgers will no doubt be searching for another job and ruing his decisions in the transfer market, unless the Liverpool hierarchy decide to stick with him and give the man time to properly stamp his own authority on the club, although the departure of Kenny Dalglish shows they may not be so patient.

We will see Liverpool return to Champions League action but, sadly, I don’t think it will be under Brendan Rodgers. His lack of experience and decision making in the transfer window will eventually cost him his job, which is something the Liverpool owners possibly should have taken into account before appointing him.

As a result of Liverpool failing to go with experience and instead for promise could see them spending more money and more time in rebuilding them to what they once were.

It takes experience for a club to compete at that level and, as much as Brendan Rodgers is a good manager, it may have been a big job too soon for him to give the Liverpool fans what they want and, ultimately, what they deserve.

What do you think? Is Brendan Rodgers the man to take Liverpool back into the top four, or will his lack of managerial experience at that level prevent him from taking them further than just a Europa League spot? Should a club like Liverpool have gone for experience instead of promise?

What do you think?

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lewis
3 years ago

what a load of rubbish. this article was not writen by a liverpool fan!

rubyrm
3 years ago

Agreed. absolute rubbish. clueless comments from an idio+ .

James Jones
3 years ago

It wasn’t, no. It wasn’t a dig at Rodgers, or Liverpool, but more of the decision making behind his appointment and then his decision making in the transfer window. Rubyrm, taking your comment below into consideration, I think that makes two of us.

mayurr
3 years ago

when i 1st read the title of the article , well i though it would be abt *HOW THE DECISION IS ABSOLUTELY SPOT ON.* to make him the manager .

And im really disappointed reading you views sply at this time,(in the KO stage of europa, topping the difficult group, n after 3 wins on bounce.)

the things you are pointing abt BR as his mistakes may also be looked as a bold moves which are actually starting to payoff.(hadn’t we got rid of kuyt there would have been no sterling.)

1. abt ANDY CARROLL.

This new liverpool manager- brandon rodgers has no half measures.he knows carroll is not his cup of tea, not suited for his style that is why he nearly forced andy out.

would any manger muster that much amount of courage to nearly throw a 35miln signing out? NO. that a part its not his failure that we offered an *INSULTING* 3miln for dempsay( US international captain, 86 goals in league from midfield for fulham) im not saying he is a 15+mln player but the amount we offered is insulting.
plus add to that borini’s injury, now u cant blame BR for it.

2. abt kuyt,maxi,n all-

you never fill a glass unless its empty , up until we get read of the deadwood , there wont be new guys coming in,we r not city or Madrid signing players for fun, and its not these guys that are being missed, BR has already replaced them, with sterling-jonjo-hendo (and they are providing much better service).

3 last but not least abt our standings n wait for champions league n all,
FACT OF THE MATTER IS THERE ARE 6 TEAMS HAVING MUCH COMPOSITE SQUAD n better options available right now . also the remaining group of upto say 13..are the teams that have defeated above teams..so that much competitive it has bean. we will have to wait for champions league atlest one more season to built a proper complete team . AND RODGERS IS THE RIGHT MAN FOR IT.

rouman
3 years ago

i still think it was wrong to not give kenny another year, rodgers is on the right track but i do questions his buys and targets..sturridge?…not worth 12 mil.joe allen is a good player but not for 15 mil..borni…overpriced too..allso i wont have that carroll is not a better striker than borni or what we have at the club(other than squarez)..i am a liverpool fan, from liverpool…i hope iam wrong…but rodgers needed more experience….before the liverpool job…and unless things improve a lot more…i can see him going..by next season…bad choices over letting players leave without replacements,.. both him and the owners are to blame…

rubyrm
3 years ago

Contradictory comment.

MyReds
3 years ago

Kenny paid 35 mil for Carroll and 20 mil for Downing, good buy?

mayurr
3 years ago

i dont know why the signings are being termed as success or flop on their money n not talent. joe allan has shown many times this season that he can be a regular liverpool player, just coz few poor games or say overshadowed by lucas does not mean we got it wrong. and abt the money game , liverpool are always going to be blackmailed by either player, agent or the other clubes until we get in top-4, or else you have to have that eagle eye to find talent, like michu,hernandez,ben arfa they are their

with due respect to king kenny. he had no clear view in his mind . signing suarez n his strike partner as carroll is a joke. and spare me i dont wanna go abt their costs. in the second half when hadgson was replaced , kenny had nothing to do with tactics or plan or pressure as he was not appointed as a permanent manager, we were out of every competition so it was just the weekend fix foe him which he enjoyed.
when the new season came in thats when kennys tactical knowledge, orthodox plans were out open…i mean i know it would be to harsh to say orthodox but his plans were not suited for the high tempo, high passing n pressing, football which is played right now. wont say he would have been an utter failure, but not the FUTURE for sure.

and also people always talk abt the money n signing , michu cost just 2miln and suarez 23miln or santi carzola=18miln
does that mean these guys r failures? a signing is as good as it performs, we have talked so many times abt carroll-35mn, do we ever refer or recognize that neither suarez was brought in at good pries. 24mln is not what a club like liverpool regularly pays. citys n madrids would certainly

Rich
3 years ago

Idiot, Suarez was signed to partner Torres but the dirty toe rag fell for the lure of London, Leaving Dalglish less than 12 hours to sign a striker and Carroll was the only one available. But hey lets not let facts get in the way of your fantasy.

mexico
3 years ago

what pure rubbish. Kyut and maxi left because dalglish hardly played them last season. Both publicly admitted that. Bellamy left because of personal reasons. This was also well known. Dalglish wasted millions on the likes of carroll downing and adam. and you are judging a man who has taken over team that only contains a few of his own signings. Give the man some time. Utterly idiotic article

rubyrm
3 years ago

that’s putting it mildly.

craig
3 years ago

Truth is you stand in a group of short sighted idiots once you hit the publish button on this article. Football has driven it self into a short term strategy that doesn’t serve long gevity. Man City and Chelsea will always need to spend big to get big results. Where as Man u ( I hate to say it ) have a long term view with youngsters comming in and the odd big name signing. That’s where liverpool’s headed. The new manager will learn over a 3 year period. And in 3 years time I believe liverpool will be a force to be reckoned with in the top 4. Well done FSG. Thanks for accepting the loss of 100 mill with Daglish and bringing some sense to the club.

harry
3 years ago

Couldn’t agree more.

MyReds
3 years ago

Good comment!!

arif
3 years ago

I feel that Brendan Rodgers isn’t the right manager we needed someone with more experience and I agree that some of the players that have been allowed to leave would have scored goals as they have proven before. King Kenny made some disappointing purchases. If reports are true and he wants to buy Daniel Sturridge I think he is making a huge mistake just like he has done with Allen and Borini neither are capable of representing LFC just not good enough im afraid and I feel we need to buy an experienced striker who can score and is proven I wouldn’t mind having Torres back, However I feel we need experience to pass the knowledge on to our younger striker’s. This season maybe Rodgers only season as LFC manager. We need to aim higher and for better players to bring in not rejects and mediocre players

bill
3 years ago

One person we need to get back to top four is Rafa. BR will come good I suppose, but his brand of Tiki football isn’t too different from liverpool own “pass n move” style imo, may be BR is a trying too hard to implement this style rather than having a bit more variation. Don’t forget KK was forced to change his tactics when lucas n Steve were out. Liverpool fans are getting rather impatient and in the process blaming the managers nonsensically.

DaveWestAus
3 years ago

I agreed with what you were saying until the KK bit – he was never a good manager;carried by Paisley/Ray Harford(Blackburn),failed at Newcastle & Celtic.Then back stabbed Rafa Benitez,who,incidentally brought him back to fill the only role he is capable of doing —- ‘ambassador’.
Rafa will come back after he proves himself at Chelsea!!!

Atma
3 years ago

I agree that Rodgers is not experienced for Champions league, but he is doing his best. We do not blame him, we blame the owners. the best Manager would have been Rafa Benitez for Liverpool. If you see the youth doing well, these are those guy who were bought by Rafa Benitez. He had a vision for the youth. Raheem, Suso, Morgan, Wisdom all these are Rafa’s buying. What has happen, we cannot move backward, Rodgers is doing well , we must trust him and now see where he will take us.

James Jones
3 years ago

I’m not saying he isn’t doing his best, I just think that his inexperience might count against him at Liverpool at this very moment in time. The whole Andy Carroll saga proved just that, didn’t it?

john thomas
3 years ago

I think this article is bang on, you guys just need to accept the truth….

SPW
3 years ago

I am a Liverpool fan and have been for 37 years, I have been thru all the emotions as a fan you can with Liverpool. Firstly, whether you agree with this article or not, why insult or slag off the author, or tell him to “kill himself” Liverpool fans are not trolls, true Liverpool fans value other Liverpool fans opinions, it’s no different to a discussion down the pub! Anyway, my thoughts are that Rodgers, given time will get Livepool in the top 4, we are playing some really good football under Rodgers… We just need some great players! In all fairness, Liverpool are not the club it used to be, we can’t attract top managers nor top players! Wouldn’t we all love Mourinho or Guardiola as manager, never gonna happen! Rafa? Not so sure, maybe! Should Kenny have had more time, yes, one more season, but we are where we are! Lets see if Rodgers and the men working on transfers can get the right players in, at the right price in January! In Rodgers We Trust… At least for two or three seasons!

James Jones
3 years ago

Thanks for the support, SPW. I am not a Liverpool fan, I just expected them to go for experience this time round. I hope he proves me wrong – most Liverpool fans seem to think he will – but his current lack of experience, I feel, will count against Liverpool in the long run.

rubyrm
3 years ago

Actually it is not a disagreement of opinions. The whole post lacks facts and senseless

James Jones
3 years ago

Well that’s your opinion. Doesn’t give you the right to wish death on people. It’s people like you the game needs to get rid of.